Suu Kyi, NLD, Sweep to Victory in By-Elections

A man shows a phone with a picture of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as election results are revealed on the screen in...of the National League for Democracy in Yangon April 1, 2012. Myanmar voted on Sunday in its third election in half a century.

A man shows a phone with a picture of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as election results are revealed on the screen in...of the National League for Democracy in Yangon April 1, 2012. Myanmar voted on Sunday in its third election in half a century.

Blog Post

Blog posts represent the views of CFR fellows and staff and not those of CFR, which takes no institutional positions.

On Sunday Myanmar time, Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) swept to victory in a landslide in the by-elections for parliamentary seats. Suu Kyi herself won a parliamentary seat, and the party appears to have taken the majority of seats contested overall, leading to jubilation at party headquarters. The victory will likely be viewed by some members of the international community as a sign that Myanmar’s reform process in fully entrenched, and that foreign countries should abandon sanctions and completely normalize relations with Myanmar.

But in a new CFR Expert Brief on the elections, I argue that, though significant, the by-elections should not be viewed as the sign of consolidation of reform. Instead, the key will be national elections held three years from now; despite the sweeping victory, the NLD will still control only a tiny fraction of seats in parliament.